Assessment of fatigue in patients with a permanent cardiac pacemaker: prevalence and associated factors

INTRODUCTION: Fatigue is a debilitating symptom of subjective nature which lacks effective therapy. The aim of the study was to assess levels of fatigue and the associated factors among patients with permanent cardiac pacemaker (PCM). MATERIAL AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study carried out in Athens. The study sample consisted of 250 patients with a PCM. RESULTS: Data indicated moderate to low levels of fatigue. Furthermore, women (median: 24, p = 0.001), those with primary school education (median: 21, p = 0.001), those who were “a little-not at all” informed about PCM (median: 31, p = 0.001), those who had someone to help them in daily activities (median: 23, p = 0.001), those who did not believe that PCM solved their cardiac problem (median: 36, p = 0.001), and those who did not believe that their quality of life was improved (median: 35, p = 0.001) had high levels of fatigue. Moreover, high levels of fatigue were felt by those who characterized themselves as anxious and those who reported to be very anxious about their heart rate and the proper function of PCM (medians: 21.5, 25 and 25 respectively). Additionally, more fatigue was felt by participants who did not smoke after implantation and did not exercise at all (medians: 20 and 24 respectively). Finally, older patients felt more fatigue (rho = 0.248) while the later the implantation device was inserted the more fatigue the patients felt (rho = 0.274). CONCLUSIONS: The present results will help clinicians to acquire an in-depth knowledge of factors associated with fatigue after implantation.